Preface

• So Insidious: Chapter 3 is a movie that I’ve inexplicably wanted to see for a while now and just got around to recently.
• I say ‘inexplicably’ because I didn’t even see Insidious: Chapter 2, and I only kinda liked the first Insidious. It wasn’t bad, but was only kinda ehh in my opinion.
• Though for some reason I really wanted to see this one!
• So how is this one? Well… Here we go!

Review

• So Insidious: Chapter 3 is the third chapter in the Insidious movie franchise.
• This time it’s not directed by James Wan, it’s directed by Leigh Wannell, aka the dude from Saw.
• And this isn’t actually a sequel to the other two Insidious movies either, it’s actually a prequel.
• The premise of this movie is that you follow this girl who’s kinda down on her luck, her mom died a year before this movie opens, and she just wants to talk to her mom again.
• So she seeks out help from the old woman in the other two Insidious movies. Then ghosts and demons and possessions from there!
• I will say that this movie does have some positives to it.
• The old woman in the movie, for instance. She was really good in the movie.
• The ghost hunter guys from the other Insidious movies, they were good too. I liked their small arc in the movie.
• Other than that though, the characters just kinda don’t work at all…
• So you have the main girl in this movie, and she was exactly the same character they have going in the Scream TV show now.
• Not the same actress, but yeah it’s the same character. You can tell.
• That being said, I’ll give the complaint to this movie that I have with the lead in the Scream TV show: I feel like there isn’t much to her other than ‘she’s a nice girl.’
• They do try to work this family dynamic into the movie, but ultimately the dad just comes off as a jerk and the brother feels absolutely unnecessary.
• So this girl remains undeveloped. You feel like there’s no reason to root for her.
• And her normalness takes me to the issue I have with this movie’s script: the first twenty minutes.
• I understand that horror movies can build up slowly. I personally prefer methods like Saw, where you get the development as you go, or Friday the 13^th/Scream where they stylistically develop characters in between horror sequences.
• The first 20 minutes of this movie were all setup though.
• Granted, the first Insidious built up during the first half or so, but there was something consistently creepy going on that made the setup worth it.
• The first twenty minutes of this movie felt like an episode of Secret Life of an American Teenager.
• Then you move into your actual haunting stuff, and this is where the movie won me back a little bit.
• During the spooks and the specters, the movie did a really good job of landing you in the shoes of this girl that the movie is following.
• There were some really well shot horror sequences, and I’ll say that the director’s shot composition was done really well. Let me explain.
• All the humans in the movie get these close-up shots of them, which are really rich and bright images. When the demons come in though, everything is done very darkly and with little light which makes the movie have this cool contrast to it.
• I typically don’t pick up on those things, but it was noticeable and effective for this movie.
• And I’ll say that the third act of this movie when all the horror and action is going down: that’s really cool.
• My major issue with this movie though, is that it’s supposed to be a prequel to Insidious, but it doesn’t feel connected aside from three characters.
• If this movie was just released as its own separate “The Haunting on 3^rd Avenue” or something, then I could see what they were going for, but in terms of prequels this movie didn’t feel like it was accomplishing anything. It was just a generic scary movie.

In Conclusion

• In Conclusion guys, Insidious: Chapter 3 doesn’t have the greatest characters ever, it’s pretty generic and boring (especially in the first twenty minutes), and it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.
• It isn’t terrible by any means, because the directing is done decently and the third act is really cool.
• So yeah, Insidious: Chapter 3? Ehh… You can probably skip it.
• It’s interesting that this is yet another GENERIC movie of this summer. This must be like the 4^th or 5^th by this point, right?!

***

So guys, those are my thoughts on Insidious: Chapter 3! What did you guys think of this movie? Let me know in the comments down below, and as always, thanks for reading guys.